It's the time of the month again where the great and good of Total Non-Stop Action gather in the Impact Zone in Florida for their latest pay-per-view, Hard Justice, shown on a three day delay here in Britain on Bravo 2, with Kurt Angle defending the TNA World Championship against Matt Morgan and Sting.
The show began with the obligatory multi-man match, the Steel Asylum, with the winner get a shot at the X Division title. This one featured Chris Sabin, Alex Shelley, Amazing Red, Christopher Daniels, Jay Lethal, Consequences Creed, Suicide, and new boy D'Angelo Dinero, aka former WWECW star Elijah Burke. It's the usual X Division fare here, with plenty of fast paced high spot action, and it's great to watch. Once again the Motor City Machine Guns proved what a great team they are, and they were probably the best thing about this match. Suicide looked like he was going to win, but as he climbed to the roof Dinero followed him up and threw him down to the mat. This have Daniels the chance to snatch the win. After he'd helped stop Red from getting to the top, he hung by one leg from the cage ceiling. It wasn't long before he regained his composure and position and managed to climb the roof and through the hole at the top of the cage, earning himself an X Division title match at the next show.
Next up, Jethro Holliday trying to take Dr. Stevie's bounty on the monster Abyss. I always like the former Trevor Murdoch when he was in WWE, and I thought it was a great shame when he was let go, so I'm more than pleased to see him back on pay-per-view. As for the match, very entertaining, and Murdoch....I mean Holliday was a great opponent for Abyss, who got the win by countering Holliday's attempted brass knuckles attack by taking him down with the black hole slam. Afterwards, Stevie got into the ring to lambaste Holliday, only to find himself on the receiving end of a big right hand, much to the delight of the crowd. Nice match here.
Sadly, I can't review the next two matches, Rob Terry v Hernandez in a briefcase match and Beer Money challenging the British Invasion for the IWGP Tag Team Championship. This is because they both involve Nick Aldis, the man behind the Brutus Magnus gimmick. As you may know Mr. Aldis has threatened me with legal action if I say anything negative against him on the internet, and this is the reason I can't review these two matches. I would be more than happy to review any match that Mr. Aldis is involved in if he were to withdraw his threat, and while I'm not going to get in touch with him asking him to do so, I'm not going to stop anyone else who wants to give him a try.
So, having been unable to review the two previous matches, it's on to the second title match of the evening, a tag team match pitting The Beautiful People against ODB and Cody Deaner, with Angelina Love's Knockouts Championship on the line. Yep, you read that right, a man is wrestling for a women's title. Where the creatives smoking skunk when they came up with this idea? It saddens me that a division that set the world on fire a couple of years ago has gone downhill in the way that it has. Angelina and ODB could have put on a great match by themselves, but the addition of the increasingly annoying Cody Deaner cheapened everything, and it got a whole lot worse when Deaner pinned Velvet after Madison Rayne accidentally sprayed her in the eyes. Thankfully, Deaner wasn't declared the new Knockouts Champion, because the rules of this match meant that only ODB could win the title, although Deaner grabbed the title from ODB and stormed away. Frankly, this sucks.
The title action continued with Samoa Joe, accompanied by Taz, challenging Homicide for the X Division Championship. These two had a great match in Ring of Honor a few years ago, and while this didn't have the drama of that particular encounter, the action here wasn't that bad. Homicide and Joe showed great chemistry in the ring, putting together a strong match, although it was obvious from the outset that this was just a way of getting the X Division title into the Main Event Mafia, and this they did, with Joe getting the submission win with the kokina clutch. Not bad, but it would have been nice to see Homicide get a longer title reign.
Then it was on to Team 3D challenging Booker T & Scott Steiner for the TNA World Tag Team Championship in a no disqualification falls count anywhere match. This is definitely not one for the wrestling purists out there. This was little more than a fight, with the obligatory brawl through the crowd coupled with plenty of chair shots, before they eventually made it back to the ring, with an interesting finish because of the two referees involved in this match, with both teams getting pins at the same time. With both men claiming that both teams had won, they went to review the video, with Booker and Steiner declared the winners. An interesting match, and an ending I've never seen before, but do you think we could have at least one pay-per-view that doesn't have a brawl through the crowd.
Up next was what looked like a very interesting match on paper, with Kevin Nash challenging Mick Foley for the Legends Championship. This was actually a lot better than I thought it would be. Slow to start off with, but it finally got some momentum after Nash countered Foley's elbow from the apron to the floor with a steel chair. It wasn't long before both men began to wear crimson masks. Attempted interference from the Mafia's chosen one Traci Brooks saw Nash push Foley into here, before Big Sexy took Foley down with a move that was missed by the cameras to get the title winning pin. Nash then went to use the barb wire baseball bat that Foley had brought into the ring, before the monster Abyss came down to the ring with a barb wire baseball bat of his own to make the save. Not bad, but given what had gone before, the ending seemed a bit screwy.
Main event time, with Sting and Matt Morgan challenging Kurt Angle for the TNA World Championship, and if you're looking for cheap jokes about stalking and arrests, you won't get them here. As far as the match goes, the best way to describe it would be disappointing. When all three men were in the ring, and Angle and Morgan were doubling up on Sting, all it seemed to be was Angle clobbers Sting, then Morgan clobbers Sting. It wasn't riveting viewing, and it wasn't what you expected of a pay-per-view main event. The ending saw Angle do the old fake injury bit, claiming injury after Morgan took him down on the floor with his big boot. While the referee was checking to see if Angle was okay, the referee missed pin attempts for both men, but when it looked like Morgan had got the winning pin after taking Sting down with the big boot, Angle suddenly sprung to his feet, pulled the referee out, and then clobbered Morgan with a chair. When the referee came to, all he could see was Angle covering Morgan, and a three count later, Angle was still the champion. You know, this match could have been so much better.
In conclusion - it's another mixed bag from TNA. If you take out the two matches I can't review for legal reasons, then Hard Justice had it's good and bad points. Samoa Joe/Homicide was a good X Division match, while Abyss/Holliday was also worth watching. Nash/Foley was good, but was ruined by it's ending, while the main event was just all wrong. And let's not mention the Knockouts title match.
So once again TNA have disappointed many wrestling fans, myself included. This is definitely one show that I couldn't recommend for further viewing.
As I logged on to the internet on Saturday evening, the first thing I saw was the sad news that one of Japan’s all-time great wrestling stars, Mitsuhara Misawa, had passed away. He was just 46 years old.
I first saw Misawa wrestle about five years ago, when the Pro Wrestling NOAH show was broadcast on the now defunct Wrestling Channel here in Britain. Although I knew very little about him, he impressed me a great deal, and I enjoyed watching his matches.
A year or so later Misawa wrestling in the six man tag team match at The Wrestling Channel’s International Showdown event at the Coventry Skydome. I was actually invited to that show (I used to write for The Wrestling Channel’s website), but I had to turn them down because of my commitments to another wrestling promotion. However, I got the chance to see the match when the DVD was released;
Disc two begins with the six man tag that everyone’s been talking about, as Doug Williams, James Tighe and Scorpio take on Mitsuharu Misawa, Tiger Emperor and Yoshinari Ogawa. The hype for this match, as well as the praise, was wholly justified. A great all round match with excellent showings from all six men, with Williams pinning the Emperor after the Chaos Theory suplex. This match earned a standing ovation, and rightfully so.
Last March I reviewed my first ever Pro Wrestling NOAH DVD, Autumn Navigation 2006;
Then it’s a return to six man action, with Mitsuhara Misawa, Yoshinari Ogawa and Kotaro Suzuki going up against Yoshihiro Takayama, Takuma Sano and Takashi Sugiura. This is possibly the best six man tag match I’ve ever seen. Every man in this match put in a near flawless performance, and even though each man had their own style, these melded extremely well to produce a brilliantly executed match, with great ring psychology and great storytelling. I really can’t speak too highly about this match, and if I spent longer saying how good it was you, the reader, would probably get bored with me, so on to the finish. After over twenty five minutes of action, it was Sano who got the winning pin for his team, taking Suzuki, who had almost got the pin himself several times, with a northern lights bomb.
Last November I review NOAH’s First Navigation 2007;
Main event time, with Mitsuhara Misawa defending the GHC Heavyweight title Takeshi Morishima. A great way to end the show, pitting the youth and superior power of Morishima against the wily veteran that is Misawa. Morishima used his size advantage to simply overpower Misawa, which included a power bomb and a DDT on the arena floor, and it seemed that no matter what Misawa tried, he just couldn’t do anything to keep the younger man down. Eventually, though, the champion’s experience came through, and after a series of heavy blows and an almost botched tiger driver, Misawa took Morishima down with a running elbow smash to get the title retaining pin. This may not have been the best match on the show, but it was still damn good.
Misawa was teaming with Go Shiozaki against Saito & Bison Smith at NOAH’s latest show in Hiroshima. After taking a routine back suplex from Saito, Misawa was knocked unconscious, and was given CPR in the ring. Every wrestler on the show surrounded the ring, as the crowd chanted Misawa’s name. He died en route to the hospital.
Misawa’s passing is not just a loss for Japanese wrestling, but for the wrestling business around the world. We’ve lost another one of our great stars at such a young age.
With Eurosport continually failing to supply my regular fix of K-1 kickboxing action, I’ve once again decided to turn to a DVD release, courtesy of MMA Universe. So in this review we’ll be going back in time to 2007, and the K-1 World GP 2007 in Seoul: The Final 16, with sixteen men, among the likes of “Sugarfoot” Ray Sefo, “The Dutch Lumberjack” Peter Aerts, Semmy Schilt and the giant Hong Man Choi looking to move on to the final eight in Tokyo.
After the always impressive opening ceremony, it’s on to the first fight, with the giant Kim Young Hyun facing former pro wrestler Ryushi Yanagisawa. Hyun, standing over seven feet tall, had a massive height and weight advantage over his opponent. This was an impressive debut from Hyun here. He showed great kick boxing skills throughout, particularly with his outside leg kicks, and whenever Yanagisawa went on the offence, his shots didn’t phased Hyun at all, and as the fight went on it looked like Yanagisawa would have more luck attacking a brick wall. Hyun knocked Yanagisawa twice, one which wasn’t scored, and it was his overall performance that won him the unanimous judges decision. A very enjoyable fight.
Then it was on to the elimination fights, with the winners going on to the finals in Tokyo, beginning with Badr Hari, taking on Doug Viney. Once again the man from Holland via Morocco showed what a great fighter he is. With the first round looking pretty even, Hari upped his game from the off in the second round, with a hard right landing on Viney’s jaw that sent him crashing to the mat and failing to beat the ten count. Hari had the victory and a place in the final eight in another good fight. One couldn’t help but feel sorry for Viney though, having shocked everyone by winning the Las Vegas GP that year as an alternate.
Next up was Semmy Schilt, going up against Paul Slowinski. This one began well for both men, with Slowinski in particular looking impressive. But these fights can turn in a split second, and a high knee from the tall Dutchman, straight into Slowinski’s face sent the Australia down, and although he beat the ten count, the referee saw enough to call the fight off, with Schilt earning his spot in Tokyo, and Slowinski getting a broken nose for his efforts. Another great performance from Schilt, who’s impressed me more in kickboxing than he ever has in MMA.
The third Dutch fighter in a row followed, with Remy Bonjasky taking on Stefan “Blitz” Leko. These two had quite a bit of history between them, so it was no surprise that this was billed as a grudge match. These two went at it from the first bell, with Leko earning an early warning for an inadvertent low kick. The fight soon continued in the same vein, with a jumping knee knocking Leko down. The German managed to bear the count, but then, to everyone’s amazement, the referee called the fight off. Leko immediately began to argue with the referee, and it was hard not to feel sympathy for him, given that he looked okay.
The Dutchmen took a rest with the next one, as Glaube Feitosa went in with Chalid Die Faust. This was a tremendous fight. Feitosa had Chalid down twice in the first round, first with a knee to the jaw, and the second with a stinging jab. But Chalid soon fought his way back, and this was the way throughout the rest of the fight. Whenever Feitosa got the upper hand, Chalid would soon fight his way back. It really was a back and forth affair. So with the fight going the three round distance, it was down to the judges, who gave their unanimous decision to Feitosa. If Chalid hadn’t been knocked down twice in the first, he may just have nicked it.
France’s favourite fighter was up next as Jerome Le Banner, who recently made his return to professional boxing after a ten year absence, facing Yong Soo Park. This was a blink and you’ll miss it affair. Both men came out swinging, but it wasn’t long before Le Banner’s big right sent Park crashing to the canvas, unable to answer the count. Another impressive performance from the Frenchman here.
It’s an all Japanese battle next, with Yusuke Fujimoto and Junichi Sawayashiki. This certainly was a very interesting fight. The first round saw Fujimoto bloody Sawayashiki’s nose, which resulted in two trips to see the ringside doctor. Fujimoto kept the upper hand for the remainder of the round and into the second. But then Sawayashiki came back into the fight big time, opening a cut above Fujimoto’s right eye, and putting him down on the canvas twice in quick succession. The third round brought much of the same, with Fujimoto going down three times, and with K-1 using the three knockdowns and you’re out rule, that was the end of the fight, with Sawayashiki earning the win with a tremendous comeback.
Then it was on to the fight I was really looking forward to, as “The Dutch Lumberjack” Peter Aerts took on Ray “Sugarfoot” Sefo. Sefo came into this one having not trained for the two previous weeks because of illness, and it showed in his performance here. Sefo went down three times thanks to Aerts’ trademark kicks, although only one knockdown was counted. But at the end of the first round Sefo went back to his corner and went down on his knees, almost throwing up, and when the bell for the second round sounded, Sefo’s corner threw in the towel. Although this was a good performance by Aerts, one couldn’t help but feel a great deal of sympathy for Sefo.
The final fight saw the Korean giant Hong-Man Choi face Mighty Mo. This was the re-match that everyone was waiting for, as Mo had become the first man to knockout Choi in their first encounter. The one definitely lived up to the hype. With the first round looking pretty even, Choi caught Mo with an inadvertent low kick in the second. However, for some unknown reason the referee administered a count to Mo. This spurred Mo on, as he caught Choi with a few good shots, despite getting caught with another groin shot. The final round saw Mo constantly looking for the overhand right, and in some instances connecting, but every time Mo came forward Choi was able to defend and get in some clean shots of his own. So with the fight going the distance, it was down to the judges again, with Choi getting the split decision, ending the show with a very exciting fight.
DVD extras come in the form of two bonus fights, Kim Min Soo v Randy Kim & Kyoutaro Ranger v Kim Suk Kyoung, as well as numerous trailers for other Beatdown DVD releases.
In conclusion - the commentators described this as the best K-1 show of 2007, and they’re right. Nine fights on the main show, and none of them disappointed, and while there were some questionable refereeing decision, there were also many great performances here, with Jerome Le Banner’s demolition of Yong Soo Park the highlight of the show for me.
So if, like me, you’re fed up with Eurosport only putting K-1 shows on it’s high definition channel and on it’s internet service, which you have to pay a monthly fee for, then start getting these shows on DVD. Besides, one other advantage is that you won’t have to put up with Will Vanders shockingly poor commentary any more!
It’s time to head down under again, as the plucky underdog challenges the tough as nails SOB, Cletus facing Jag for the big belt at Wrestlerock 13: Spooktacular, held at the Corner Hotel in Melbourne this past September.
The show begins with Julian James and Chris Fresh coming to the ring, and after welcoming the crowd, James is about to run down the card when a couple of old faces from the past return, Sebastian Walker former Wrestlerock Champion Lord Carnish, and a big guy called O Town, the group called WTC. They proceed to hype their new film, The Rise & Fall of Lord Carnish, until they’re interrupted by the dancing one himself, Carlo Cannon. Cannon challenges Carnish to a match, but Walker adds a couple of stipulations - that if Cannon wins, WTC will break up. If Carnish wins, Cannon has to work for Walker.
The match begins immediately, and it certainly is an impressive match to start the show with, some fast-paced and high-flying action from two great wrestlers, but Cannon’s dancing antics proved to be his undoing. Just as the ring girl was about to bring in his disco ball so he could start dancing, the big guy at ringside dragged the ring girl away. Distracted, Cannon was easy prey to a roll-up from Carnish for the win. Cannon was horrified, and it got worse as WTC handcuffed his hands behind him, before Carnish applied a camel clutch. Eventually, WTC dragged Cannon backstage.
Then it was time for another return, with Daniel Swagger coming back to face former champion Mad Dog. Now, this may be a first for me as far as Wrestlerock goes, but this match just didn’t do it for me. Early on Mad Dog crumpled to the mat with an apparent knee injury, but a few moments later the knee injury seemed to disappear, only to return at periodic intervals for the remainder of the match. It didn’t help that Swagger, who showed some good stuff after his tour of America, didn’t actually focus his attack on Mad Dog’s injured knee, so what could have been a corker of a match just didn’t seem to make any sense. Later, Swagger himself complained of a knee injury, and after the referee asked Mad Dog to stay back, a mystery man ran in and took the Dog down with a low blow. An ace crusher later, and the now recovered Swagger got the winning pin. Then it was revealed that the mystery man was another Wrestlerock returnee, Trikki D. Swagger then grabbed the microphone, and after endearing himself to the crowd, announced that he wanted the Wrestlerock title.
The action continued with the self-confessed teen idol, Damian Slater taking on Slex, accompanied here by Lazer. Now this was more like it. After his great debut at the previous Wrestlerock show, Slater turned in another great performance. Slex, of course, was Slex, and I don’t think I’ve seen a bad Slex match left. It was a tremendous back-and-forth contest which mixed mat wrestling with hard hitting action topped off with some high-flying stuff, with plenty of near falls, with Slex eventually getting the pin after his trademark slexecution kick. If you haven’t seen a Slex match before, then this may be a great one to start with.
Tag-team action followed, with Temo, Brian and Dowie, faced the Bastard Brothers team of Krackerjak and Logan in a tables match. This one ha a lot to live up to after their excellent match at the previous show. This was basically one big brawl, with both teams hitting each other with whatever they could get their hands on, chairs, metal ladders, staple guns, and after several near attempts to put each other through a table, Logan held Brian with one arm over a table while Krackerjak came down on top of him from the top rope to send the Temo man crashing through the table. That wasn’t the end of things though, as the Bastards put both of their opponents through another table. Not as good as their previous match, but still pretty damn entertaining.
Main event time, with Wrestlerock Champion Jag taking on a man who has never won a match in the company, the plucky underdog Cletus. It’s a battle of contrasting styles here, with Jag’s no nonsense hard-hitting style against Cletus’ speed and high-flying offence, and it’s a perfect mixture. Cletus plays the underdog role to perfection, while Jag’s no BS style is great to watch. Love him or hate him, you have to admire the guy’s approach. Sadly, though, the underdog couldn’t get the job done. After putting in a great effort, Jag countered Cletus’ hurricanrana attempt and took him down with a power bomb to get the winning pin. Jag then celebrated his win by power bombing Cletus twice more, before Wrestlerock regulators Logan and Lazer came to the rescue. Fellow regulator Slex then appeared on the stage, and announced that Jag’s next title challenger would be his erstwhile foe and former champion Chris Knight, Australia’s weapon of mass destruction. A great way to end the show.
DVD extras come in the form of a set from the band Catwitch, as well as a Wrestlerock 13 highlight video. With the exception of the Mad Dog/Swagger match, this was another great show. The storyline surrounding Jag’s rampage through the promotion gets more and more intriguing with every show, and is possibly one of the best executed angles I’ve seen from any wrestling promotion in quite a while, the sort of storyline that makes you want to watch the next instalment just so you can find out what happens.
Elsewhere, some more good performances, with Krackerjak once again proving why he’s one of my favourite guys on the Wrestlerock roster.
So if you haven’t seen any of these shows yet, and if you haven’t after the great reviews I’ve given them, then Wrestlerock 13 comes highly recommended.
With thanks to Rohan Herbstreit for supplying a copy of this release. Wrestlerock 13: Spooktacular is available to buy online by visiting www.wrestlerock.com.
It’s multi-man gimmick match overload time again as Total Non-Stop Action goes on the road to Philadelphia for their latest pay-per-view offering, the 2009 version of Lockdown, with Mick Foley challenging Sting for the gold, and shown on a three day delay here in Britain on Bravo 2. As usual, Mike Tenay and Don West are at ringside handling commentary duties.
The show begins with the first title match of the evening, with the masked man Suicide defending the X Division title against Jay Lethal, Kiyoshi, Consequences Creed and Sheik Abdul Bashir. Let’s go over the rules for this one - with all five men in the ring, eliminations can come via pinfall or submission, but once it gets down to two, normal cage match rules apply. Now that’s out of the way, let’s get back to business. It’s the usual X Division style match, tongs of great spots, and with two teams in this one, some nice team work from Lethal Consequences as well. The Great Muta…..I mean Kiyoshi was the first man to go, pinned by Lethal and Creed after Lethal’s top rope elbow. Creed was next to go, courtesy of Bashir’s WMDDT. Lethal was the next to go. After Suicide took him out with his suicide solution finisher, Bashir pulled the masked man off the pin attempt and pin Lethal himself, leaving the Sheik and the masked man the last two men in the match. And this was when things got a whole letter better. With just two men in the ring it was a lot easier to follow all the action, and we also got a moment that will probably make TNA’s best moments of 2009 list. After Suicide knocked Bashir from the top of the cage and back into the ring, Bashir’s running buddy Kiyoshi came running back to the ring, with security guards following. As the guards restrained the Japanese star, Bashir began to make his way to the cage door. Suicide, meanwhile, dived off the top of the cage and onto the guards below, and with his feet touching the ground first, he was declared the winner. An exciting match in it’s own unique way, but it would be nice to see the X Division title defended in a singles match on pay-per-view once a while.
Then it’s time for the Knockouts with a four-way Queen of the Cage match, featuring Madison Rayne, Sojournor Bolt, former Governor Daffney and ODB, accompanied by Cody Deaner. Well, I guess it wasn’t a one night stand then. No normal cage match rules for this one, with the first pin or submission wins. Once again it’s a solid outing from the women, with the addition of Daffney, sans awful governor gimmick, proving to be a welcome addition to the division. In the end there could only be one winner - ODB. After taking a swig from her flask, ODB spat whatever it was into Bolt’s eyes, and a powerslam later, she got the three count. Good stuff from the Knockouts though, although I wish they’d get rid of Cody Deaner, who has quickly become the second most annoying man in TNA.
The second title match of the evening follows, with the Motor City Machine Guns defending the IWGP Junior Tag-Team titles against former champions No Limit and LAX. Now, correct me if I’m wrong, but I always thought that the IWGP Junior titles were for wrestlers of a certain weight, I.E. light heavyweights. Well, if this is the case, why is Hernandez in this match? He certainly well over the light heavyweight limit. But anyway, back to the matter at hand. Fought under tornado rules, style wise it’s like the opening X Division title match, with plenty of fast-paced action and crazy bumps, although I couldn’t help but notice that messrs Tenay and West, for the most part, ignored No Limits, the Japanese contingent, in their commentary, instead focusing on the Guns and LAX, a great shame because from what I saw of them they looked to be a very good and very capable team. Hernandez, as always, was impressive with his power moves, especially when he was throwing people into the cage. The end came when Sabin and Shelley took Nito (I think that’s how you spell it) down off the top rope with a powerbomb/sliced bread combination to retain the title. A good match, but I couldn’t help but think that this went on a tad too long.
The gimmickry continues with Matt Morgan and Abyss in a Doomsday Chamber of Blood match. The rules - you can only pin your opponent if they’re bleeding. Time to be completely honest again. This match just didn’t do it for me, probably because this feud is starting to get a little stale. Abyss got busted open early when Morgan kicked a steel cage into his face. Moments later Morgan introduced a bag of broken glass into the equation, which Abyss later used to cut Morgan open after the referee took a hit. We then found out that Abyss’ doctor is in fact Stevie Richards, who stopped Abyss from using a chair, and later a bag of drawing pins by coming into the cage and slapping the monster. This gave Morgan the chance he needed, delivering a low blow from behind, before taking him down with a choke bomb on the pins. A three count later and Morgan had the win, hopefully winning the feud. Who knows, maybe Big Stevie Cool will challenge the monster next!
The third title match follows, with Awesome Kong, accompanied by Raisha Saeed, defending the Knockouts title against Angelina Love, accompanied by Velvet Sky, and Taylor Wilde. Now this is what women’s wrestling is all about. Kong, as always, was awesome (no pun intended), and once again dominated both of her opponents, even attempting a somersault splash from the top rope. As for Love and Wilde, their exchanges were great. We also had the novel sight of Love and Skye tying Kong’s braids to the cage in an attempt to take her out of the match. One scary moment though was when Wilde came off the top rope and Love banged her head on the mat, looking like she was unconscious for a few moments, which would probably explain the finish. After Wilde put Love in a chin lock, she broke off the hold to go after Kong, who was still tied to the cage. Kong kicked her off, and then Love got the immediate pin, winning the title. A very good match, but for obvious reasons the ending was a little disappointing. But then again, that couldn’t really be helped.
Then it’s on to the fourth title match of the evening, with TNA Tag Team Champions Beer Money face IWGP Tag Team Champions Team 3-D in a Philadelphia street fight, with both titles on the line. Basically, they can fight anywhere, and get pins anywhere. It’s basically one big brawl, with the obligatory monthly brawl through the crowd, and a smattering of tables, and it’s pretty damn entertaining. James Storm and Robert Roode once again proved what a great team they’ve become, and Team 3-D, well, we already knew how good they were. In the end, 3-D came out as double champions, after Storm accidentally clobbered Roode with the cage door, the former Dudleys took Roode out with a 3-D through a table. Three seconds later and they added another set of belts to their collection.
We then moved on to TNA’s version of War Games, with Team Angle - Kurt Angle, Scott Steiner, Booker T and Kevin Nash, taking on Team Jarrett - Jeff Jarrett, Samoa Joe, A.J. Styles and Chris Daniels. The rules - one man from each team start the match. After five minutes, another man enters, giving one team, in this case Team Angle, a one man advantage. Then, every two minutes, another man enters until all eight men are in the cage. Then the roof and weapons are lowered, and a pin can be made. Angle and Daniels were the first two out, followed by Booker, Styles, Steiner, Joe, Nash and Jarrett. Tons of great action throughout this one, with even Scott Steiner looking good. The fun and games, though, only really started when the roof came down and the weapons came into play. Angle and Styles made their way onto the roof and began to brawl, both men nearly throwing the other off the top, before Styles provided the moment of the night by diving through the roof of the cage onto the Mafia below. Later, Jarrett accidentally clobbered Styles with a steel chair when Booker ducked out of the way. But in the end all of that was forgotten when Jarrett clobbered Booker with his trusty guitar, and Styles got the pin for his team. But that wasn’t it. As soon as the match ended, the lights dimmed, and none other than former ECW Champion Bobby Lashley appeared on the stage, much to the delight of the Mafia. Well, apart from this introduction, a great match, very enjoyable.
Main event time, with Mick Foley challenging Sting for the World title. Quite why Foley, a part-time wrestler, if he’s even that, has got this title shot is beyond me. Oh well, at least this is being contested under normal steel cage match rules. Now, before I continue, I just want to say this - I admire Mick Foley, I really do. He’s a true legend, a hell of a writer, and a great guy. I will always respect him for what he’s done in and out of the wrestling business. But from watching this match it’s obvious that his best days are far, far behind him. I just couldn’t get excited by this match. Foley’s performance was just poor, he’s just a punch and kick kind of wrestler now, and it saddens me to say that. Foley and Sting may have had some classic matches in the past, but this wasn’t one of them. I just couldn’t wait for it to end, after clobbering Sting several times with his trusty old barbed wire baseball bat, Foley beat Sting to the punch, climbed over the top of the steel cage and hit the floor first, winning his first TNA World title. Definitely not the best match I’ve ever seen.
In conclusion - I really have mixed feelings about this year’s Lockdown. In the past few months I thought that TNA were starting to move away from their reliance on multi-man matches on their pay-per-views. Well, they went right back to that with this show. Of the eight matches on this card, there were only two singles matches and one two-on-two tag matches, and only one match fought under normal cage match rules. Don’t get me wrong, there was some great action in the majority of these matches, there really was, but it still saddened me that they’ve apparently gone back to their old way of trying to get as many people as they can on their shows. As the old saying goes, less is more.
